Another Weather Change

What started out as a pleasant winter's morning turned out to be rather wet by the time some of us finished. The ground conditions also deteriorated and for those of us without studs, the effort needed in certain areas, especially the steep climbs, rose dramatically. Still, that's cross country running.
The course itself was somewhere between 3 and 4 laps, depending on your state of mind and fitness. The general conclusion was that it was one of the harder courses, but certainly 'fit for purpose'. Recording the scores afterwards was a little difficult for Chris Taylor who had to admit that walking on water was easier than writing on it with a biro!.

with 312 finishers, this was the largest turnout of the season. We were again well represented with 9 ladies and 16 men on the starting line. Well done to new first timers, Nicola Henshaw and Jeff Denton - don't worry you two, the other races are easier - honest.

Immense thanks to Jo Panks for the photos

In the strongest field of the season, Karen Ball and Victoria Burrows-Bilton again turned in excellent performances finishing in 4th and 7th spots respectively enabling the ladies team to finish 5th in this competitive league. In the series, they have slipped one spot to 4th, however they can still improve on this over the last two events. Whatever the eventual outcome, they are performing brilliantly after gaining promotion last year.

Karen Ball 4th
Victoria Burrows Bilton 7th
Rachel Cook 42nd
Jenny Dews 51st
Emma Smith 65th
Gail Wrangles 66th
Ann Rhodes 68th
Maria McDonald-Leach 78th
Nicola Henshaw 101st

The result of this is currently being queried as Jenny Dews has been recorded in the wrong category - (Jenny, treat this as a compliment by those recording age categories). We are currently recorded as finishing 6th, whereas we should be 4th. Whatever the outocme, we have jumped to 3rd in the series league table.

Karen and Victoria occupy 1st and 2nd for the Series and one or other are strong favourites to take the title if they complete the last two races.
In the Age Categories, Rachel has jumped into second place and Ann has cemented her second placing.
See Cross Country Home page for full listing.

Aiden Ball 37th
Steve Wigglesworth 47th
Craig Tipton 72nd
Peter Grimoldy 91st
Glyn Jones 107th
Paul Zywicki 142nd
Chris Taylor 150th
Aidrian Leach 152nd
Roy Young 153rd
Ian Hill 168th
Barry Sinar 179th
Stewart Haigh 183rd
Brian Dodd 189th
Jeff Denton 191st

The vets team finished in 7th spot, again a little disappointing, but seriously affected by the lack of Charlie. We have slipped one spot to 4th in the series, but do have the capability to improve on this over the last 2 races.

Steve Wigglesworth is our best plaved individual in 16th position, followed by Charlie Lines in 29th and Craig Tipton in 65th.
In their age categories, Steve retains 3rd spot; Brian Dodd takes over 3rd and Ken Bingley retains 1st spot